Meet the Cast: Whitney Kraus

Where are you from?

Indianapolis, IN

What do you do when you're not performing?

Working at the Museum of Science and Industry, playing guitar/piano

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Procne's ultimate moment of standing up to Tereus. There's such power in it, especially in Kate's choices for the scene. It's heart rending, but it's the moment we sit waiting for the entire show. It's cathartic.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

The entire process has been awesome. This is a very different experience from many shows I've done in the past, and the real thought and passion that have gone into this production is inspiring. I'm exceedingly grateful to have the opportunity to play "fly on the wall" at rehearsals and really learn from such a talented group.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Pandion: Meet John Rushing

Where are you from?

Corsicana, TX

What do you do when you're not performing?

Take care of my son, Jackson.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Love when I dance with Niobe.

What's a fun fact about your character?

My character was a former ballroom dancer...kidding...he was a sailor and Olympic champ in the javilon.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

Favorite rehearsal moment, so far, was dancing in negative space.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Phaedra: Meet Amanda Reader

Where are you from?

Oswego, IL

What do you do when you're not performing?

I work at Trader Joe's. The one on Clybourn. Come visit, I'll show you where the olive oil is and let you try the sea salt brownies. Also, I recently acquired a mandolin...and I've been practicing. I know four chords, so... Look. Out. World.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

I don't want to spoil anything, but there is this tongue bit that i'm sure will end up being my favorite. On the other hand, there is the Bacchae festival. Which is, you might say, 'fun' as well.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

1. John's impeccably timed DROID phone call.

2. Carrie's impression of John's Bacchae dance.

3. Basically everything that comes out of James Palmer's mouth during notes. None of which I can type here.

4. Don Markus.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Phaedra simply refuses to let Love get the better of her.....wait.....right? Well, maybe not.

Final performances of The Love of the Nightingale are May 27-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Unwanted Truths

"What is a myth? The oblique image of an unwanted truth, reverberating through time. And yet, the first, the Greek meaning of myth, is simply what is delivered by word of mouth, a myth is speech, public speech."
~ Timberlake Wertenbaker, The Love of the Nightingale

Red Tape Theatre held our Myths on Stage panel on May 16, 2010. Chicago artists who'd recently directed, dramaturged or adapted fresh adaptations of Greek myths shared their experience.

Gender politics were a common theme. Marti Lyons, dramaturge for The Love of the Nightingale, asked the audience to consider why some stories stay in our culture while others fade. Sociologists have suggested that destructive women like Medea, Electra and Phaedra are given more stage time today than victims of injustice like Iphigenia or Philomele. Timberlake Wertenbaker's script for Nightingale brings the sexual politics of the Philomele myth to the forefront as she and the women’s chorus repeatedly reject the men’s attempts to turn them into objects.

In a contrasting case Tim Speicher, Artistic Director of The State Theatre, combined the well remembered story of the martyr Antigone with the lesser known story of the fallen warrior Ajax. The stories were linked with the theme of burying the dead and what one does with the bodies of the disgraced. Dramaturge Sarah Sapperstein played the role of the Chorus in AjaxAntigone (pictured) as a single entity. In a time when Greek women were silent the Chorus was given the power to debate and challenge the political figures on stage.

The motive for retelling the myth was different for each panelist. For Thomas Murray's production of Living Quarters: After Hippolytus the myth was a gateway into a personal story of recovery from grief. For Cory Tamler the story of Iphigenia offered a lens onto a "What If" scenario" for contemporary US politics. For Tim Speicher there were universal truths to explore: "When audiences see characters who try to accomplish something they attach to them."

"But we cannot rephrase it for you. If we could, why would we trouble to show you the myth?"
~ Timberlake Wertenbaker, The Love of the Nightingale

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website!

The Story of Niobe: Meet Lona Livingston

What do you do when you're not performing?
Recently I've been reading scripts for Red Tape's next production. I'm a very proud Red Tape ensemble member.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?
The 'aha!' moment in a scene. For an actor, when purpose and comprehension unite - whether it's for character development or simply a line reading - it's very exciting. It can be a long process at times.

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?
Entering the theatre before performances and seeing some very young actors prepare for the production. Their focus and commitment, even if they have very small speaking roles, is obvious.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Press for "The Love of the Nightingale"

Read what the critic's are saying about The Love of the Nightingale.

"...a whirling dervish of Greek mythology, atmospheric tension and a futuristic, fully immersive, hyperstylized theatricality...

"Director and lighting designer James Palmer and his first-rate design team (including William Anderson on sets and Ricky Lurie on costumes) have conjured up a strange steam-punk universe of mannequins and dystopian violence."

"The heart and soul of the piece belong to Romond and Reardon...
It's a helluva performance."

-Nina Metz, Special to the Chicago Tribune

Palmer's production is stunning, with images and scenes of immense power and thrilling theatricality.

Full credit should go to the cast, an eye-popping 23, who commit fully to a challenging script and complex staging.

-Zev Valancy, CenterStage

"James Palmer's stylish production traps us in the midst of the action, with scenic designer William Anderson creating a smartly enclosed environment"

"...lead trio Meghan Reardon, Kate Romond and Vic May bring remarkable honesty and nuance..."

-Kris Vire, TimeOutChicago

"Red Tape's Love of the Nightingale was refreshing, bizarre, and remarkably resonant."

"Palmer and his enormous cast explode the story into life, ripping it from its ancient Greek context and filling it with anachronism and theatricality."

"The dream team of designers Palmer amassed has concocted a marvelous world."

"Romond's tortured Procne is excellent... we're entranced by her struggle."

"If Red Tape keeps churning out work like this, they'll become a tiger of the storefront scene."

-Barry Eitel, Chicago Theatre Blog

"a solid contender for 2010's most promising addition to Chicago's off-Loop theater community."

- Mary Shen Barnridge, Windy City Times

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website!

Myths on Stage: Time and Place

Red Tape Theatre held our "Myths on Stage" panel on May 16, 2010. Chicago artists who'd recently directed, dramaturged or adapted fresh adaptations of Greek myths shared their stories.

Jeremy Menekseoglu, Artistic Director of Dream Theatre, was relieved by the lack of "columns and togas" in the featured productions. Dream's Electra (running through June 6), the centerpiece of their Agon Trilogy, aims to break audience barriers the instant the door opens. A death-day party kicks off for the late king Agamemnon, with the king's head as a centerpeace. Jeremy added that audiences come to Greek tragedy's "knowing how it will end." Dream's adaptations find the surprises before the endings and examine the characters psychology through a modern lens.

Time and Place was universal for The State Theatre's mash-up of AjaxAntigone. They were very specific for Cory Tamler's Effie which set Iphigenia in a post-apocolyptic U.S.A. and for Thomas Murray's production of Bryan Friel's Living Quarters: after Hippolytus set in modern Ireland.

The State Theatre's dramaturge, Sarah Sapperstein, stated that Greek myths offer us countless ways to retell them for our own use and relevance. Tamler's Effie shifted the focus of Iphigenia from the father to the daughter. Friel's Living Quarters uses the Hippolytus myth as an entry point, focusing on the families attempts to heal in the aftermath. The same story can be told through a new perspective, whether to focus on politics, gender, family or passion.

Electra runs at Dream Theatre through June 6.

Red Tape's The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended.

We run through May 29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Tereus: Meet Vic May

What do you do when you're not performing?

I am a recent graduate from massage therapy school and am presently waiting tables while I await my license approval. So come on in to Chicago's Pizza on Montrose for lunch some time. I'll be the guy in all black taking your drink orders and bringing you insanely over-portioned servings of Italian food.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?

The first time all the components came together on stage; lights, music, set and performances the place was electric. It really made all the hard work worthwhile. That, and Kate not being able to look me in the eye on stage without cracking up.

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?

Working with such an amazing ensemble. These people bring it every night regardless of audience or fatigue. They take a challenging script and bring out the poetry and nuance that makes this a great show.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Marti Lyons

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16
following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago artists who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company.

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre.

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge.

Tim Speicher - Artistic Director, the State Theatre.

Cory Tamler - Playwright.

and:

Marti Lyons – Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale.

Marti is currently serving as Literary Apprentice at Steppenwolf Theatre and just finished directing Prayers as part of the Ripped festival for American Blues Theater and Piven Theatre. Recently, Marti assistant directed directed Underground for Rhino Fest at the Prop Thtr, assistant directed The Pillowman with Kimberly Senior, dramaturged City Lights Receding at Red Tape as part of the Fresh Eyes Project, directed a staged reading of Lima Beans for Teatro Luna and directed The Conduct of Life with Tooth and Nail Ensemble. This past year Marti assistant directed Oedipus with Sean Graney and also spent time assisting in the casting office at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Next, Marti will direct Laura Eason's contribution to The Silver Project at American Theatre Company, attend the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and direct a reading of A Lover's Dismantling for Urban Theater Company as part of the Latino Theater Festival at The Goodman. Marti is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Les Enfants Terribles returns!

Les Enfants Terribles

return to Red Tape

Monday May 24 at 8:00pm

An audience favorite at CFANN 2010, Les Enfants Terrible's mission is to create improvisation, song, and the constant development of new games to challenge and entertain audiences. As an ensemble of buffoons, Les Enfants Terribles draws from equal parts clown, commedia, and flash performance. Through this unique worold of play all six members cling to one another as one mind and body which forces each buffoon to juggle complicity with themselves, fellow ensemble members, and audiences.

Seats are limited and selling quickly.

Get your TICKETS now!

The Story of the Captain: Meet Nick Combs

What do you do when you're not performing?

I enjoy T.V. A near perfect night would be sitting at home watching Forensic Files on Court TV with my two cats and lovely girl friend along with a large pizza.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?

Our first rehearsal. The energy in that room was so powerful. It really set the tone of this piece. Where the company is now compared to where it was a year ago is unbelievable! I am so proud to be a company member!

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?

The power the ensemble has to take the audience each night on this amazing, complex journey and not let them go until we are ready.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website!

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Tim Speicher

Myths on Stage

Sunday, May 16

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago artists who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:

Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company.

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre.

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge.

Cory Tamler - Playwright.

and:

Tim Speicher - Artistic Director, The State Theatre. Tim holds a B.A. in Theatre and Drama from Indiana University. He has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Island (Indiana University) Immigrant Stories (Chicago Children's Theatre at Jane Addams Hull House), Moby Dick... Rehearsed and AjaxAntigone (The State Theatre), was Company Manager and appeared as Alonso in The African Tempest Project (Hexagon Theatre, Kwazula Natal, South Africa) and Assistant Directed The Red Kite Project (Chicago Children's Theatre). He has written Southern Hopitality, Crowbar, Thirty-Eight, Heat in the Kitchen and now AjaxAntigone. Tim had internships with Indiana Repertory Theatre and Goodman Theatre, a fellowship with American Theatre Company, and is currently employed as the Marketing Associtate for Chicago Children's Theatre.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

We run May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Sarah Sapperstein

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16,

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.

Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company

Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

Cory Tamler - Playwright

and:

Sarah Sapperstein, Dramaturge. Sarah holds a dual degree in musical theatre and Classicaland Near Eastern language, literature, and archaeology from the Univ.of Redlands, in southern California. Her academic focuses includecosmogony, archaeological representations of literary figures, comparative text analysis and translation bias, and contemporary retellings of Classical drama and epic. Since 2005, Sarah has been apart of over 30 theatre and musical theatre projects and premieresthroughout Chicagoland, and performed in Univ. of Detroit's productionof The Bacchae on their 2009 summer tour of Greece. In hernon-existent free time, Sarah enjoys road trips, culinary adventure,and healthcare advocacy.

Sarah will be discussing her work with AjaxAntigone at The State Theatre.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

It runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of Aphrodite: Meet Whitney Green

Where are you from?
Detroit, Michigan

What do you do when you're not performing?
Intern/assistant teacher with Emerald City Theatre School, and bartending at Uberstein.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?
I have so many favorite moments of the show its hard to pick. One I especially love is the in the beginning when the soldiers enter and fight. The atmosphere on stage is so energized and exciting, our cast of twenty feels like a hundred. I know the audience feeds on the energy and anticipate the powerful things to come.

Any standout rehearsal moments?
I really enjoy the artistic visions of everyone working on the show, and watching how they collaborate and bring their ideas together. I'm very excited to continue work and be part of the final product.

What's a fun fact about your character?
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, but her love for Hippolytus was not returned, so she used her power to destroy him. Although it is a small part in the play within the play, it serves as a reminder of the disastrous effects of trying to force love and covet a person's affection. Just like Phaedra (in the play within) andTereus with Philomele.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!
We run May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Cory Tamler

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16


following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.





Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.


Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company


Thomas Murray - Director, Strangeloop Theatre

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre

and:
Cory Tamler. Cory Tamler has been Chicago-based since November 2009, where her playwriting projects include Eighty-Four in Collaboraction's Sketchbook X (coming in June!), Effie (a new ensemble-created adaptation of Iphigenia) with The Neapolitans, and the 2010 Fresh Eyes Project with Red Tape Theatre. She hails from Pittsburgh, where her produced work includes The Funeral, a one-act based on Euripides' The Trojan Women, with the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Cory will be spending the summer in Maine working as the resident playwright on a collaboration between Open Waters Theatre Arts and three local farms, and will then head to Berlin for a year on a Fulbright scholarship to study the text/performance relationship in German theatre.

Effie, a retelling of Euripides' Iphigenia, runs April 22-May 9. What if peace could be guaranteed by the sacrifice of one human life? What if the life were yours?




Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 3:00pm at the EP Theater.


The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!
It runs May 3-29.
Get your tickets through our website.

The Story of a Soldier: Meet Shane Brady

Where are you from?

I'm from Palm Harbor, Florida. It's about 30 minutes or so southwest of Tampa. I grew up along the beach and I miss my dogs and the water more than anything!

What do you do when you're not performing?

I work at Grand Lux downtown, that's my day job. However in my spare time I love playing guitar or writing.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

*** Highlight for spoiler *** When they pull the tongue out!!!! *** End spoiler ***

Any standout rehearsal moments?

My favorite rehearsal moment has been punching Don in his face night after night.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Since he's a soldier, I have decided that he loves to listen to Eminem.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended!

Performances run May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Thomas Murray

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16,

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.



Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.



Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Jeremy Menekseoglu - Artistic Director, Dream Theatre Company


Cory Tamler – Playwright

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre



and:
Thomas Murray. Thomas is a Chicago-based director and literary adaptor.
His directing has been featured at Strangeloop Theatre (Living Quarters, Welcome to the Moon, The El Stories), City Lit Theatre (The Wall-Reader), and the Minnetrista Cultural Center (Shedtown). He has assisted on productions with Next, Seanachai,The Gift, A Red Orchid, Noble Fool, and Steppenwolf.



Thomas has delivered research on the Emerging Scholars Panel at the Mid-America Theatre Conference and was selected by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune to represent the Great Lakes region in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Critics’ Competition.
Original adaptations have included The El Stories, The Wall-Reader (finalist, Art of Adaptation Festival), Carpathia, and Cruel and Barbarous Treatment. His essays on theatre have been published by Steppenwolf Backstage magazine, Ball State Daily News, and the Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival.



Thomas will be discussing his work wiht Living Quarters after Hippolytus. First produced by Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1977, Living Quarters recasts the mythology of Theseus, Hippolytus, and Phaedra into an isolated Donegal homestead. Commandant Frank Butler returns home to Ireland as a hero after saving nine United Nations peacekeepers from enemy fire during a siege in the Middle East. But the revelation of secrets kept while Frank was away threatens to divide the Butler house forever.



The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.


Get your tickets through our website.

Myths on Stage: Meet Panelist Jeremy Menekseoglu

Myths on Stage
Sunday, May 16

following the 3:00pm matinee of The Love of the Nightingale.

Paul G. Miller hosts a panel of Chicago directors and playwrights who discuss the process of adapting Greek myths to the modern stage.





Panelists include:
Marti Lyons - Dramaturge, The Love of the Nightingale at Red Tape

Thomas Murray – Director, Strangeloop Theatre


Cory Tamler – Playwright

Sarah Sapperstein - Dramaturge

Tim Speicher – Artistic Director, State Theatre



and:
Jeremy Menekseoglu. Jeremy is the Artistic Director of Dream Theatre Company and the playwright of eight Modern Greek plays: AGAMEMNON, ELECTRA, ORESTES, MEDEA, ANTIGONE, ISMENE, THE CLOUDS and LYSYSTRATA. Dream Theatre Company is currently in the midst of his AGON TRILOGY which covers Agamemnon, Electra and Orestes. It has already been called "a small, stunning portrait of power dynamics in a relationship that by turns echoes those between Edward Albee's George and Martha, Orson Welles's Charles and Susan Kane, and Sophocles's Antigone and Creon. Oh, and Jean Cocteau's Belle and Bete, too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" --Tony Adler, Chicago Reader. And “As a first installment, Agamemnon is a harbinger of good things to come. It will certainly be exciting to watch as Menekseoglu steers the Dream ensemble through the next two plays of his Agon Trilogy.” -Ian Epstein, Chicago Theatre Blog.



The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.


Get your tickets through our website.

Opening Night Artwork

Happy opening to the cast and crew of The Love of the Nightingale!

Paul G. Miller

Managing Director

Red Tape Theatre Company